The two part-built units at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant could be finished with unused equipment from Bulgaria's discontinued Belene nuclear power plant project with President Volodymyr Zelensky signing into law the legal framework for the acquisition with the presidential signature required to put it into law Nuclear power plant operator Energoatom said the law establishes the legal framework and gives approval for negotiations with Bulgaria for the acquisition of the equipment Khmelnitsky's first reactor was connected to the grid in 1987 but work on three other reactors was halted in 1990 at a time when unit 3 was about 80% complete and unit 4 about 25% Work on the second reactor restarted and it was connected to the grid in 2004 The Belene project in northern Bulgaria was for the construction of two 1000 MWe units and contracts for components including large forgings and I&C systems were signed with suppliers but the project was stymied by financing problems Equipment for the nuclear island had been paid for and was manufactured and delivered in 2017 and has since been kept in storage - the then government formally ended plans for the project in 2023.  Since then there have been talks about Ukraine purchasing the unused Belene equipment in what International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi called an "interesting project" with its "efficient" idea of one interrupted construction project integrating technology from a discontinued project The agency has said that it will help throughout the project to ensure safety standards are assured at all times The Bulgarian parliament has already given approval for negotiations about the sale of the equipment to Ukraine with the minimum aim of recouping the reported EUR600 million (USD622 million) paid for the equipment at the request of the Bulgarian and Ukrainian governments a US technical team joined experts from the two countries to conduct a technical assessment of the VVER equipment stored at Belene Westinghouse has also confirmed it will be able to supply fuel for the completed Khmelnitsky units Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said after the parliamentary vote giving the go-ahead in February: "The completion of the Khmelnitsky NPP is a strategic task for Ukraine Nuclear energy is the basis of our energy system and to a large extent it is thanks to it that we have light and heat would not see any Russian involvement in the project - "everything will be implemented by Ukrainian and American companies". He added that completion of the units will be "many times" faster and cheaper than construction from scratch capable of generating half its electricity including the six-unit Zaporizhzhia plant which has been under Russian military control since early March 2022 The country has plans for at least nine Westinghouse AP1000 units including two new ones planned at Khmelnitsky and others at the Rivne and South Ukraine plants The two completed units could provide more than 2 GW of capacity Reactors a key asset for Sofia and country’s energy security Please read the Terms and Conditions below Use the scroll bar to read them in their entirety To acknowledge you have read and understood all of the terms whether obtained directly from Energy Intelligence a subscription management service (such as SWETS is governed by these Standard Terms and Conditions access and/or subscription to EI Services is provided to Subscriber as a limited non-exclusive and non-transferable license All rights in the EI Services not expressly granted in the Standard Terms and Conditions are reserved to Energy Intelligence In the event any term or condition contained in any subscription order form or subscription renewal or subscription invoice conflicts with the Standard Terms and Conditions the Standard Terms and Conditions shall control If any portion of the Standard Terms and Conditions conflicts with any term(s) of a separate valid and subsisting company-wide license between Energy Intelligence and Subscriber or with a valid and subsisting (multiple) named user subscription agreement between Energy Intelligence and Subscriber the terms of the Global License or Named User License are deemed to control (b) Access. 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cheapest path to new nuclear but is unlikely to result in Bulgaria completing Belene any time soon The rationale behind the political decision is muddled and could still be reversed given Bulgaria's unstable politics Bulgaria decided to call off the sale of equipment from the failed Belene nuclear project to Ukraine’s Energoatom and reactivate the plans 0 has led to another controversy with regard to the Belene nuclear power project The investment was canceled and restarted several times since the Russian equipment arrived in the late 1980s The National Assembly voted in 2023 to start negotiations on the proposed sale to Ukrainian state-owned Energoatom for its Khmelnytsky nuclear power project last week the representatives of the ruling coalition said they decided to keep the equipment head of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) said nuclear energy development is the right way forward for the country and its people “Electricity prices are rising around the world The world is facing continued energy insecurity and nuclear power is a stable and predictable source we have the experts – everything is in our hands,” he stated Experts have valued the stored equipment at EUR 734 million The idea is to attract such an investment and use the Russian reactors in Belene to power it, Kapital reported Borissov is planning to discuss the matter with “the Americans.” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov is from GERB The article adds that experts valued the assets in storage at EUR 734 million of which the reactors are worth EUR 409 million Bulgaria’s parliament has set the lowest price at EUR 602 million Now it will need to vote again to block the potential deal The news website attributed Borissov’s turnaround to the new geopolitical situation between the United States It added that the project is outdated and that it wouldn’t be completed for another 20 years anyway There is also the issue of funding: the investment requires at least EUR 10.2 billion more and another EUR 1.53 billion for the transmission network and other infrastructure the same or similar challenges were there five and ten years ago as well Most importantly, Bulgaria is already preparing to build two more units at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, in cooperation with  Westinghouse Electric State-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding is controlling the project Be the first one to comment on this article 02 May 2025 - The project is located in Constanța county recognized for its superior yields in green energy production 02 May 2025 - The Sunčana (Sunny) Vipava project envisages installing solar power plants with a combined capacity of 20 MW 30 April 2025 - OMV put into operation its 10 MW green hydrogen plant at the Schwechat refinery 30 April 2025 - It is the second time this year that MVM contracted gas-fueled and hydrogen-ready power plants at sites of former fossil fuel facilities © CENTER FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2008-2020 website developed by ogitive Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations Bulgaria has abandoned the construction of its second nuclear power plant near the small town of Belene on the Danube after stopping and resuming the project twice this third suspension is likely to end the Belene nuclear project forever… People with gas masks carry a poster with a nuclear symbol during a demonstration in Sofia Prague’s five-party coalition might not survive until next year’s parliamentary election after its shocking defeat by Andrej Babiš’ sovereigntist ANO it is actually the greatest book published by a foreigner about the city of Seville and one of the great books on Spain Site of the abandoned Belene nuclear power plant project in Bulgaria The Bulgarian government unexpectedly backed out of a deal to sell two unused nuclear reactors to Kyiv at the last minute—largely due to internal pressure from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP/S&D) which has been accused of taking an explicitly “pro-Russia” stance throughout the war The backtracking could land awkwardly with the ruling parties’ mainstream allies in Brussels The two redundant Russian-made VVER-1000 reactors along with the four steam generators and circulation pumps have been in storage for 15 years since the country abandoned its plans to build the Belene nuclear power plant with Russian technology back in 2010 Bulgaria opted to upgrade its only existing plant in Kozloduy with two additional nuclear units using American AP1000 technology with South Korea’s Hyundai awarded the construction project.  Ukraine offered €600 million for the redundant reactors and the Bulgarian parliament approved the sale .  After a new government emerged following four years of political crisis and seven elections earlier this year PM Boyko Borisov (GERB/EPP) once again confirmed the sale claiming that his socialist coalition partners have also agreed since it was a clear financial win for the country even if Bulgaria has no use for them in the foreseeable future “We were adamant from the start that these reactors are not for sale,” BSP leader and deputy PM Atanas Zafirov said “They are a key asset for Bulgaria—part of our energy security and economic independence.” The decision to back out from the deal was announced by Zafirov on Tuesday with the socialist leader claiming it was taken unanimously by all coalition partners and that the government seeks to restart the Belene project which cost over €1 billion two decades ago with no tangible results where the two largest mainstream political groups—von der Leyen’s EPP and the socialist S&D—have been downplaying concerns about their Bulgarian members.  The widespread corruption of the coalition-leading GERB has contributed massively to the country’s four-year political deadlock yet the EPP has never taken a stance against its member’s supposed rule of law violations the EPP’s mantra that it only cooperates with parties that are staunchly pro-Ukraine also takes a hit as BSP is sitting among its primary coalition partners in Brussels.  President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has signed the law on the procurement of equipment for the completion of units 3&4 at the Khmelnitsky NPP The law establishes the legal framework and grants permission for the procurement of equipment from the Bulgarian Belene NPP Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) passed the law allowing nuclear utility Energoatom to buy two Soviet-designed nuclear reactors from Bulgaria’s cancelled Belene project for Khmelnitsky expansion The decision followed discussions led by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi during a visit to Ukraine Grossi outlined the agency’s support in providing technical expertise and nuclear safety advice for the new Khmelnitsky reactors Westinghouse has said the planned reactors will be able to run on American-made fuel The Belene project envisaged the construction of two Russian VVER-1000/V-466 reactors and preliminary site works began in 2008 Contracts for components including large forgings and I&C systems were signed with suppliers The plant was to be built by Atomstroyexport (part of Rosatom) after Russia won an international tender in 2006 but the project was cancelled in 2012 after a change of government It was revived again briefly in 2018 after a series of arbitration procedures which saw Bulgaria pay €601.6m ($691.5m) in compensation to Atomstroyexport for the equipment already manufactured These components are now stored at the construction site and maintained regularly by Rosatom Ukraine’s Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko revealed plans to build four new units at the Khmelnitsky NPP These include two Russian designed VVER-1000 units to be built using equipment imported from the cancelled Belene project The other two will be Westinghouse-supplied AP-1000 units Khmelnitsky currently operates two VVER-1000 units (1&2) Khmelnitsky’s first reactor was connected to the grid in 1987 but work on three others stopped in 1990 when unit 3 was 75% complete Work on the second reactor restarted and it was connected to the grid in 2004 Bulgaria’s National Assembly earlier instructed the Minister of Energy to start negotiations with Ukraine for the sale of the Belene equipment Ukrainian officials said Bulgaria previously put the price of the two reactors at $600m there has been growing opposition in Bulgaria to the possible sale of the reactors to Ukraine The opposition Vazrazhdane (Revival) party recently tabled a draft Resolution in the National Assembly cancelling the negotiations with Ukraine on sale of the Belene equipment MP Iskra Mihaylova told journalists that Vazrazhdane wants the equipment to remain in Bulgaria and be used for the completion of the abandoned Belene plant project She expects other political organisations who have stated similar positions to convince their current coalition partners that Bulgaria should not sell and gift away the equipment She noted that the price at which the negotiations with Ukraine are being conducted is their purchase price Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the Progressive Media network © Business Trade Media International Limited The Minister of Energy will submit a report to the parliament to inform the parliamentarians about the results of the negotiations with Ukraine on the sale of the equipment of the "Belene" NPP This is stated in a written response by the Minister of Energy to a question posed by MP Martin Dimitrov from the PP-DB the chairman of "BSP-United Left" Atanas Zafirov announced that the reactors of the "Belene" NPP will not be sold He added that he had discussed the topic with the leader of GERB Boyko Borisov we were categorical that these reactors were not for sale They are a key asset for Bulgaria - part of our energy security and economic independence We are witnesses that the price of electricity is growing worldwide The world is in permanent energy uncertainty nuclear energy continues to be the most reliable source - stable cheap and predictable," Zafirov said at the time the Minister of Energy indicated that the parliament would make a decision on the future of the equipment More news from Bulgaria Move will enable Kyiv to complete two Russia-designed VVER units at Khmelnitski Ukraine’s parliament has voted to support a draft bill allowing Kyiv to buy Russian-made reactor equipment from Bulgaria for the completion of Units 3 and 4 at the Khmelnitski nuclear power station The bill was approved on 11 February with 261 votes in favour Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced Ukrainian energy minister Herman Halushchenko welcomed the decision saying it will enable the completion of the two additional units adding about 2,200 MW to Ukraine’s energy grid Ukraine has a fleet of 15 commercial nuclear plants although six at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear station Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom is planning to complete Units 3 and 4 at Khmelnitski about 300 km west of the capital Kyiv in western Ulraine Both are Russia-designed VVER-1000 pressurised water reactor (PWR) units The plan is to buy reactor equipment that was produced by Russia for the abandoned Belene nuclear power station project in Bulgaria Bulgaria’s parliament approved negotiations to sell the reactor equipment in July 2023 Bulgarian officials have said they would want no less than €600m ($618m) for the equipment which is stored at the planned Belene nuclear station site in northern Bulgaria Bulgaria received the equipment for the two units, including two reactor pressure vessel and steam generator sets, from Russia in 2018 after settling a Russian compensation claim to the International Court of Arbitration in 2016 for €620m resulting from the cancellation of the Belene project in 2012 Construction of Khmelnitski-3 and -4 was abandoned in 1990 in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Soviet Ukraine and because of financial shortages construction of the third unit is 80% complete while the fourth is at 25% There are already two Russia-supplied VVER plants at the site that began operation in 1988 and 2005 Three years of Russian strikes on its power grid have left Ukraine reliant on nuclear power for more than half of its electricity generation That nuclear power is generated by three functioning stations – Khmelnitski International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi said last week that the agency “stands ready” to support Kyiv’s plans to expand Khmelnitski. the country grapples with acknowledging its past and the lasting impact of the Soviet-era Bulgarian gulags which detained an estimated 60,000 people over four decades can explore the harrowing history of Belene Camp through a pop-up exhibition at the Victims of Communism Museum In anticipation of the exhibition's opening Carolyn Stewart interviewed Louisa Slavkova the organization responsible for bringing this poignant exhibition to the United States with the support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation Carolyn Stewart: The exhibition focuses on Nikola Daskalov a young man who was imprisoned in Bulgaria's most notorious gulag at the age when most Americans are just getting their driver's license Can you tell us why his story is crucial to share Louisa Slavkova: Before the Soviet occupation of Bulgaria—what some still refer to as “liberation”—Nikola’s father was the governor of Plovdiv his father was murdered in the so-called People's Court This court employed a sham judicial process set up by the communist party to eliminate political opponents who played a key role in rescuing the Bulgarian Jewish community during World War II Thousands of Bulgarians were tried and executed State security monitored Nikola after his father’s death they fabricated charges to send him to Belene the largest and longest-operating Bulgarian gulag highlights the arbitrary lawlessness of the communist regime Nikola’s experience underscores the importance of democracy and a rules-based order where rules were nonexistent and consequences were arbitrary a democracy ensures that actions are governed by laws and there is accountability Nikola's story serves as a powerful reminder of what can happen when a society abandons the rule of law and allows a single party to wield unchecked power CS: How does Bulgaria's experience offer added insight into our understanding of Soviet ideology and our current moment LS: Soviet ideology was pervasive and forceful established communist rule through free and fair elections This ideology suppressed any expression of free will including its resistance movements and the scale of repression there Compared to the well-documented events like the Prague Spring of 1968 the Bulgarian gulags and the omnipresence of state security are less recognized Often characterized as a faithful Soviet ally Bulgaria even applied to become the 16th Soviet republic The existence of gulags in Bulgaria is a testament to resistance against the communist regime The Soviet Union's infiltration of Bulgaria caused damage that extended beyond the forty-five years of direct control: Cultural shifts happen slowly and educating people about democracy requires concerted efforts individuals are expected to make decisions that impact their personal lives and communities all the time totalitarian regimes only allow individuals to decide whether they support the regime or not there are fewer survivors to share their experiences all the while Kremlin-led disinformation campaigns seek to obscure Soviet communism's violent legacy How is the exhibition leveraging technology and AI to keep these memories alive LS: Personal stories are powerful conveyors of historical truth where 40 percent of the State Security archives were destroyed at the end of the communist regime These stories become crucial records in the absence of complete archival materials Bulgaria has not fully confronted its communist past and its understanding of Russia’s role of is still influenced by propaganda from that era This lack of reflection on the past leaves Bulgaria vulnerable to current Russian malign influences we can preserve and disseminate the testimonies of gulag survivors like Nikola Daskalov AI allows these stories to be accessible worldwide enabling interactive virtual conversations These are especially appealing to younger generations Interaction is key to experiencing another person’s story the opportunity to have a virtual conversation is intuitive and engaging This approach helps counter disinformation by providing direct personal accounts of history and making them widely available CS: What three actions would you like to inspire visitors to take after experiencing the exhibition LS: Firstly, visit the platform www.belene.camp to explore virtually the remains of the Belene gulag and continue your conversation with survivor Nikola Daskalov other survivors’ testimonies will be available with English subtitles plan a trip to Bulgaria to visit the camp remains in the Danube town of Belene raising awareness through these actions will help us advocate for turning the camp remains into a site of memory and learning Confronting our difficult past is essential for strengthening democracy an organization focused on civic education for young Bulgarians have you observed any changes in how citizens engage with civic issues in Bulgaria LS: Bulgaria has faced significant political instability in recent years the country's dependencies on Russia and its own communist legacy hinder its progress toward deeper democracy Moving beyond the traumas of communism requires confronting and discussing these difficult histories Educating about democracy is not a quick fix; it's a long-term effort to build critical thinking The younger generations today are more creative and democratic in their approach They are more open to new ideas and more willing to engage in civic issues It is in memory of those who valued freedom above all and for the future generations that we continue to educate about democracy as the foundation of a dignified life The most important lesson from our past is that freedom is the ultimate value for any human and Belene is a testament to that aspiration for freedom Educating about democracy is not a pain-killer but more like taking vitamins: it prepares us for the long run but dealing with the recent past is one powerful source to develop it Louisa Slavkova is the executive director of Sofia Platform Carolyn Stewart is the former managing editor of American Purpose.  Image: A promotional graphic for the Belene Camp exhibition. (Credit: Sofia Platform) which detained an estimated 60,000 people over four decades.  Louisa Slavkova: Before the Soviet occupation of Bulgaria\u2014what some still refer to as \u201Cliberation\u201D\u2014Nikola\u2019s father was the governor of Plovdiv State security monitored Nikola after his father\u2019s death Nikola\u2019s experience underscores the importance of democracy and a rules-based order CS: How does Bulgaria's experience offer added insight into our understanding of Soviet ideology and our current moment?  LS: Soviet ideology was pervasive and forceful Bulgaria even applied to become the 16th Soviet republic.  The existence of gulags in Bulgaria is a testament to resistance against the communist regime LS: Personal stories are powerful conveyors of historical truth and its understanding of Russia\u2019s role of is still influenced by propaganda from that era Interaction is key to experiencing another person\u2019s story LS: Firstly, visit the platform www.belene.camp to explore virtually the remains of the Belene gulag and continue your conversation with survivor Nikola Daskalov other survivors\u2019 testimonies will be available with English subtitles have you observed any changes in how citizens engage with civic issues in Bulgaria?  LS: Bulgaria has faced significant political instability in recent years and Belene is a testament to that aspiration for freedom.   Louisa Slavkova is the executive director of Sofia Platform Carolyn Stewart is the former managing editor of American Purpose.  Image: A promotional graphic for the Belene Camp exhibition A Bulgarian lawyer has sent an eight-page letter to the European Commission pointing to various alleged violations of EU competition rules relating to the oft-delayed Belene nuclear power plant Donec et orci aliquet nisl suscipit molestie sed sit amet tortor Duis vel urna ac mi sollicitudin lacinia mollis sit amet lorem Sed finibus erat nec libero scelerisque fringilla Morbi at orci sed urna vulputate vulputate Get a subscription on Euractiv Pro and elevate your political insight The reactors from the Belene NPP project will not be sold for now as they can be used to build a power plant that would power future data centers in Bulgaria This was reported by GERB leader Boyko Borissov as the reason for coalition partner BSP's surprising refusal to sell the unused nuclear equipment to Ukraine one of the world's top 3 investment funds contacted Bulgaria and expressed "extreme interest in building huge data centers in Bulgaria" and told the country to hold off the sale US President Donald Trump has also show interest in the Bulgarian reactors During his previous administration he had sent groups of experts to see them Bill Gates… they have shown interest I don't believe there is a Bulgarian who doesn't want the most powerful artificial intelligence to be here adding that the reactors are 100% Bulgarian and the refusal to sell them did not mean a return to Russia if for Europe the new industrial focus is the military-industrial complex then for the US and Great Britain it is artificial intelligence centers and data centers They can't be made everywhere; you need at least 1,000 MW of direct power current thousands of acres with rooms with AI computers working at maximum capacity," Borissov hypothesized two things were needed – direct electricity current thermal power plants or gas plants can provide a reservoir for cooling - Kozloduy has both something like this would cost tens of billions of leva and could create many jobs especially for people who are leaving the IT sector when artificial intelligence replaces them He said that there were two Bulgarian nuclear reactors in perfectly preserved condition together with the largest American funds and Westinghouse then I don't know if we should give the reactors away for 1 billion leva,” concluded Borissov Bulgaria’s Council of Ministers has decided that the National Electricity Company (NEK -Natsionalnata Elektricheska Kompaniya) is to sell some equipment stored at the suspended Belene NPP project to Kozloduy NPP to extend the operating life of Kozloduy units 5&6 The plant was to be built by Atomstroyexport (part of Rosatom) after Russia won an international tender in 2006 but the project was cancelled in 2012 These components are now stored at the construction site NEK said in August 2023 that it will be able to continue to conserve the equipment delivered for units 1&2 of Belene NPP” with technical assistance from Atomstroyexport Kozloduy NPP operates two Soviet-built VVER-1000 reactors (units 5&6) which are due to be decommissioned in 2027 and 2029 Bulgaria was obliged to close four older VVER-440 units as a condition for accession to the European Union even though the units had undergone significant safety upgrades Rusatom Service earlier carried out several projects at Kozloduy including a feasibility study for life extension Russian involvement in Bulgaria’s nuclear programme has ended The Kozloduy units are being switched from using Russian supplied fuel to fuel supplied by Westinghouse Bulgaria and the US signed a formal agreement to collaborate on the construction of new units at Kozloduy (7&8) The document outlines cooperation in nuclear power development and technology exchange While the units are to have Westinghouse AP1000 reactors Westinghouse will not take part in the construction but will retain overall control of the project The value of the Belene equipment to be transferred to Kozloduy is nearly BGN1m $554,000) An independent appraiser will determine the initial selling price and the transaction will be carried out by direct negotiation between the two companies according to regulations set out in the Public Enterprises Act The Council of Ministers said implementation of the transaction will ensure the security of the equipment at Kozloduy as well as the optimisation of the time for carrying out repair activities was permitted to sell Belene components to Kozloduy fans and other equipment were sold two years ago to be used in repair programmes at units 5&6 the National Assembly earlier instructed the Minister of Energy to start negotiations with Ukraine for the sale of the two Belene reactor pressure vessels and accompanying equipment for completion of units 3&4 at its Khmelnitsky NPP Bulgaria expects at least BGN 1.2m for the equipment but so far no agreement has been finalised although talks with Ukraine are continuing in a recent podcast reported by Novinite Business former Chairman of the Committee for the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes and scientific supervisor for the commissioning of Kozloduy 7 expressed concerns about plans for the plant He noted that in eight years there will be nowhere to store used fuel from the existing Kozloduy NPP it must always be in an environment that ensures its cooling and it must be placed in a specific way” He explained that after three years in the used fuel pools the fuel is transferred to onsite storage “and can stay there for decades” we have dealt with this because the used fuel was transported to Russia where it was processed and temporarily stored In this way we periodically made space in our storage He added: “I was appointed as the head of a working group to update the spent fuel storage strategy we set out to start negotiations with France and to explore the options for processing our fuel at French factories France has two plants for processing such fuel He was especially concerned about mixing Russian fuel with the fuel of the Westinghouse He explained that there is a risk of abrasion between two adjacent cartridges “The other thing that worries me is that our contract with the Russians for internal reactor control has expired and they will no longer provide data on their cartridges that remain in the reactor And these data are very important for the whole process Bulgarians voted yesterday (27 January) in favour of building a new nuclear power plant in their first referendum in the post-communist era the referendum result is not binding and the matter is referred to Parliament Slightly over 60% voted for a 2,000-megawatt plant at Belene on the Danube River a turnout of more than 60% of eligible voters was needed The referendum was initiated by the opposition Socialist Party (BSP) which last year gathered 800,000 signatures in favour of holding a referendum for building a new nuclear power plant at Belene 500,000 valid signatures are needed to hold a referendum The plebiscite on Belene was the first nationwide referendum in the country’s modern history The Socialists decision to hold the referendum was a response to the freezing of the construction at the Belene site last March Prime Minister Boyko Borissov says the Belene plant would cost more than €10 billion Some interpret Borissov’s move as an effort to reduce the country’s dependence on Russia for its energy Russia was expected to build the nuclear plant and supply the reactors the Socialists are the biggest power base among the supporters of nuclear energy in Bulgaria has been operational since 1974 and is reputed for providing inexpensive power and hard currency through exports The prime minister’s ruling GERB party was unable to stop the referendum and removed the name ‘Belene’ from the referendum which read: “Should nuclear power in Bulgaria be developed through the building of a new power plant?” the referendum was seen by many as a test of public support for the policies of Borissov ahead of the parliamentary elections in July who is also president of the Party of European Socialists called the referendum “successful” and said it had been “a powerful impulse for changing the political status quo” in the country Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov rejected the view that the referendum should be seen as a vote for or against Borissov He accused the Socialists of organising an expensive party survey estimating the cost at 20 million leva (€10 million) Borissov said that if the turnout exceeded 20% enough for Belene to go before parliament, GERB would reject the project again. His party controls a majority which is able to reject any motion from the opposition The Bulgaria for Citizens party of former EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva who according to polls may enter the next parliament was strongly opposed to the referendum and had asked supporters not to vote But opinion polls showed that most of Kuneva’s supporters also supported Belene According to opinion polls, the Socialists and GERB are neck-and-neck ahead of the July elections with about 20% of public support each No green party has ever made it to the Bulgarian Parliament in modern times Marina Dragomiretzkaya chairman of the Green Party “This referendum was a good exercise in direct democracy in Bulgaria The Green Party would have liked to see even more no-votes and regrets that other political parties called for a boycott of the referendum We hope we can work together with all who are against the Belene NPP to fight for a cleaner and healthier future.” “We are happy that the no-vote rose from 0% to 25% yesterday but disappointed that only a little bit over 20% went to the polls The referendum did help to generate interest for the topic of nuclear which is something we have been advocating for a long time We can now only hope that Parliament will vote no.” Bulgaria has been heavily reliant on nuclear energy since the 1970s when the Soviet-built Kozloduy nuclear power plant became operational Under pressure from the EU during accession negotiations the country agreed to close down four of the plant's six units - with EU support Kozloduy produced 44% of the country's electricity This gave Bulgaria a strategic position in the region The Belene project became a priority of Socialist former Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev. After years of setbacks Stanishev turned the first sod of the planned 2,000-megawatt Belene plant in September 2008 Current  Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said he would not move on any major energy projects with Russian participation negotiated by previous governments without the green light of the country's Western partners. However, recently he opened the door to the Gazprom-favoured South Steam pipeline much to the surprise of his Western partners [more] EURACTIV Turkey: Bulgarlar yeni nükleer santrale 'evet' dedi EURACTIV Germany: Belene: Bulgaren stimmen für AKW-Neubau Sale could be finalised with Bulgaria in coming months The Bulgarian parliament has decided to extend the deadline given to the government to negotiate the sale of two Russian nuclear reactors and related equipment to Ukraine by six months either observed and verified directly by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Authorities in Sofia received the reactors from Russia's Atomstroyexport more than six years ago but they were already unusable because the country had given up on building the Belene nuclear power plant Ukraine seeks to compensate for the loss of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant [Walter Homann/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images] HOT: » What kind of news would you like to see more of? Ukraine's parliament has given the green light for the acquisition of two nuclear reactors initially intended for Bulgaria's Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) These reactors are set to be used at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear facility which has been operating at only half capacity since the Chernobyl disaster The decision follows discussions led by Rafael Grossi the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Grossi outlined the agency's support in providing technical expertise and nuclear safety advice for the new reactors at Khmelnytskyi the reactors planned for the Ukrainian NPP will be able to run on American-made fuel as confirmed by the American company Westinghouse We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria Bulgaria commemorates one of its most significant national holidays – the Day of Saint George the Victorious and the official Day of the Bulgarian Army all retailers in Bulgaria will be required to display prices in both leva and euros Employers in Bulgaria are legally required to implement all necessary measures to prevent and minimize workplace accidents a major British tour operator specializing in holidays to Bulgaria has halted all its operations effective April 24 Wage growth in Bulgaria is projected at 9.3 percent for 2025 a 15.4 percent rise in the minimum wage since January The World Bank has revised down its forecast for Bulgaria’s economic growth in 2025 The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) has approved the natural gas price in Bulgaria for May Bulgaria is set to become the first European country to operate an AP1000 reactor according to Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov speaking at a symposium hosted by Westinghouse in Sofia Bulgaria has taken a significant step toward exploring its deep-sea energy potential The two nuclear reactors from Bulgaria's Belene Nuclear Power Plant will not be sold to Ukraine A contract for the exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas in Block 1-26 Khan Tervel located within Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea Bulgaria is exploring the possibility of leveraging its nuclear power capabilities to attract the IT sector particularly in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase Information for shareholders and stakeholders Managing Director of Westinghouse Electric Sweden emphasized that Westinghouse will be able to supply its fuel if Khmelnytskyi NPP units 3 & 4 are completed and equipment from the Bulgarian Belene NPP is installed “Westinghouse confirms the possibility of providing a compatible fuel design in time for the first and subsequent cycles of KhNPP-3 and KhNPP-4 based on the V-466B reactor design With respect to time schedule of the NPP project we recommend opening the discussion on technical details and defining the scope for fuel design review and implementation in the near future,” the letter says the safety analysis report provided by the experts states that the VVER-1000 V-466V core consists of 163 TWZ-A fuel assemblies This type of fuel assembly has long been used in the cores of VVER-1000 reactors successfully operated in Ukraine Westinghouse has debunked manipulative statements by pseudo-experts about the impossibility of using US fuel at the Belene NPP in Bulgaria which Ukraine plans to purchase from Sofia Trust official sources and professional comments of world-renowned experts ignoring the expert's statements far from the nuclear industry The refusal to implement the deal with the two reactors could be an indicator of some longer-term program of Bulgarian policy towards Ukraine and the war in Ukraine The last caretaker government of Dimitar Glavchev refused to sign the defense cooperation agreement with Ukraine making Bulgaria one of the three European countries along with Hungary and Slovakia that do not have such an agreement with Kiev the regular government stopped the deal for the sale of the reactors from the "Belene" NPP; of Ukraine "Given the obvious state of affairs from a technological which hardly favors the construction of the "Belene" NPP under any other conditions and considerations this decision of the Bulgarian government is a bit strange It is hardly possible for Bulgaria to benefit from these reactors even if there is a very strong change in the international conditions for the construction of the "Belene" NPP this decision is problematic from the point of view of bilateral relations with Ukraine I do not think that such abrupt gestures should be made" He defined the government's foreign policy as balanced and reasonable It is related to maintaining Bulgaria's main priorities - integration into the European Union and maintaining positions that strengthen trust as a partner in European integration Supporters of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party clashed with a Ukrainian delegation of nuclear experts at the site where the Belene nuclear power plant was expected to be built in a video shared by the pro-Russian party on social media on Tuesday When specialists from the Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom came to Belene to inspect the equipment they intend to buy from Bulgaria as part of a visit organised by the Bulgarian parliament they stumbled on a protest organised by Vazrazhdane Some construction work was done and equipment was purchased before the project was abandoned in March 2012 as unfeasible Following is the news item of BTA's External Service on the April 7 2005 decision to resume the plant's construction: Cabinet Takes Conclusive Decision on Construction of Belene N-Plant April 7 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Government Thursday approved conclusively a proposal for construction of a nuclear power plant on the Belene site (Northwestern Bulgaria) The new N-plant will have a maximum capacity of 2,000 MW using an evolutionary project of a pressurized water reactor Energy and Energy Resources Minister Miroslav Sevlievski explained to journalists Construction of the N-Plant on the Belene site will start after obtaining the requisite authorizations and licences Sevlievski said that the next stage of the project implementation was to invite competitive bids for a supplier and contractor of the new N-plant The bidding procedure for selection of a contractor will be initiated between May 30 and June 10 The entire procedure is supposed to be completed within four months this will happen within the term of office of the new cabinet The Belene N-Plant project was revived by Council of Ministers Decision on December 19 The construction start target date was then set at mid-2005 Construction for the original N-plant project on the Belene site began in 1987 but was discontinued in February 1990 for lack of funding The project was first suspended by Parliament after ecologist protests in mid-1991 and then finally abandoned as "technically unsound and economically unviable" by Council of Ministers Decision on May 21 A Council of Ministers decree dated March 20 1981 selected a 270.2 ha site across from largest Danube island for construction of Bulgaria's second nuclear power plant Building works for the original N-plant project on the site began in 1987 It was initially planned to build four energy units with WWER-1000/V-320 reactors developed by AtomEnergoProm (AEP) of Moscow part of the Unit 1 building was ready and more than 47,000 tonnes of equipment was delivered Then works were discontinued in February 1990 for lack of funding.  The project was first suspended by Parliament after environmental protests in mid-1991 and then finally abandoned as "technically unsound and economically unviable" by a Council of Ministers Decision on May 21 On December 19, 2002, the Council of Ministers adopted a decision to unblock the construction effort.  BTA's Archives holds a news item on December 19, 2024 about the decision of the same date in 2002 to resume the plant's construction as well (see link) the project was revived by a Council of Ministers Decision on December 19 Bulgaria's Natsionalna Elektricheska Kompania (NEK) and Russia's AtomStroyExport concluded a final agreement on design construction and commissioning of Belene Units 1 and 2 of 1,000 MW each at the cost of EUR 4 billion Germany's RWE Power was selected as a strategic investor in the project but withdrew on October 28 the Council of Ministers decided to stop the construction and the National Assembly backed that decision asking citizens whether Bulgaria should develop nuclear power generation through the construction of a new N-plant A majority 60.6% voted in favour of the Belene NPP but the decision was not binding on the National Assembly because of a 20.22% voter turnout Bulgaria was ordered by an arbitration court to pay BGN 1,170 million to Russian contractor AtomStroyExport for two reactors it had already built for Belene the government has been trying to revive the project Parliament abolished a moratorium on its construction in June 2018 answering a call launched by the government Three companies: Russia's Rosatom through its subsidiary AEP the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Bids for sharing in the project's financial structuring and supply of turbines and other equipment came from France's Framatome and General Electric of the US The investor selection procedure was suspended in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic Contacts +359 2 9262 210 By accepting cookies you can enjoy a better experience while browsing pages Representatives of three of the world's leading investment funds which have a strong interest in setting up large data centres in the country have reached out to and held meetings with Bulgarian authorities GERB leader Boyko Borissov told journalists these centres need a constant and reliable supply of electricity the reactors at the Belene nuclear power plant site should not be sold to Ukraine as they could provide the necessary electricity for these centres Former PM Borissov made the statement in response to reports that Bulgaria was withdrawing from the sale of two Russian reactors at the site of the unfinished Belene nuclear power plant project which was to be Bulgaria's second NPP and for which the country had already paid $600 million the fund's representatives asked Bulgaria to delay its decision on the sale so that they could talk to US President Donald Trump I don't think there is a single Bulgarian who wouldn't want the most powerful artificial intelligence to be based here I'm thinking of the country," said Borisov Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev has left for Washington where he will participate in the Munich Leaders Meeting (May 5-7 The forum is organised by the Munich Security Conference The foundation Unity- Kočani has sent an open letter to key Bulgarian institutions expressing gratitude for the support and humanitarian assistance provided by Bulgaria after the tragedy of the fire at a nightclub in Kočani The foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Greece Georg Georgiev and Giorgos Gerapetritis signed a joint declaration on the use of the waters of the river Arda on 2 May the BNR reports citing an announcement published by the Greek Foreign Ministry.. people will be able to withdraw money  from ATMs only in the new currency according to the website of the Bulgarian. helicopters of the Bulgarian Air Force will fly at low altitude over Sofia in preparation for a military parade marking the Day. The Bulgarian student teams that participated in the European Olympiad of Experimental Sciences EOES 2025 in Zagreb have returned with. english@bnr.bg The island of Persin is a bird-watcher's paradise it's a nature park covered in wetlands and home to hundreds of rare bird species: the spoonbill it's jarring to consider that this was the location of a concentration camp where thousands of Bulgarian political prisoners were brutalized and killed from 1949 to 1953 — and in some cases for years after that Though it's officially known as Belene after the quiet Bulgarian village that sits 750 feet away on the mainland old-timers here call it by another name: the Island of Death was sent here at age 24 and spent four years and three months interred at Belene after someone (he suspected his ex-wife) told the authorities of his plan to escape the country In his notebooks — he had planned to write a memoir about Belene but never did before he died in 2011 at 87 — he remembered the place as "brutal facilities for re-education," where he'd endured "indescribable physical and psychological abuse." He finally managed to escape Bulgaria in 1966 and settle with my grandma in California.  my parents and I left Bulgaria and joined my grandparents in California my grandfather never stopped talking about the gulag He seemed to have an unending loop of stories about Belene and we were alarmed to discover his extensive gun collection which my grandmother gamely dismissed as a coping mechanism But guests who came to the house were often riveted by his dark tales The Communistie shot you!" he'd shout at his terrier mix I've come to the town of Belene on a brutally hot day in August for a tour of the Island of Death who works for the Belene Island Foundation a nonprofit that organizes tours of the island We cross a rickety water bridge on foot and then jump aboard a Jeep driven by a 24-year-old Belene native named Peter is passionate and knowledgeable about the island's flora and fauna she tells Peter to stop the car to point out a roosting stork or a water eagle She talks about her plans to make Persin a tourist destination comparable to Borovets a ski resort with luxury hotels in the Rila mountains; or Koprivchitsa a living museum honoring the Bulgarian rebels who mounted an uprising in 1876 against the Ottoman Empire In the three decades since the fall of communism Bulgaria has effectively buried the history of its many gulags which operated mostly in the 1950s during the early many lower-level guards came from the village and a former mayor was also the gulag's first superintendent It's not surprising that the village doesn't advertise its history survivors who had been forced to sign documents promising to never talk about the camps started speaking out they became the subjects of documentaries and newspaper profiles the consensus was that it was better to move on An interior minister tasked with investigating the camps instead secretly ordered a purge of thousands of pages of documents — 40% of the government record.  the memory of the Communist era is more fraught.  most of our stops lead us to what's not left of the camp The shacks where prisoners slept have been razed — there's no trace of them "To be human is to have dignity." From inside the camp — what would have been visible to the internees — the engraving says he is destroyed." But no one I've talked to knows whether it's the original or has been recreated.  I ask Toncheva whether there's a list of everyone who was held in the camp I'm thinking of my grandfather and wondering whether there's any documentation She tells me everyone who comes here for the camp asks the same question "There's almost no proof the camp even existed." The first contingent of 300 men arrived at the Belene camp in the summer of 1949 A camp for women was founded on an adjacent island soon after The first wave of prisoners had to hack through the unpopulated island and build small shacks that were so crowded the prisoners didn't have room to lie down Borislav Skotchev wrote that the island was dotted with towers manned by guards with machine guns.  The men held here included the former leader of the Social Democrats the editor of the newspaper Svoboden Narod was sent to Belene after serving 10 months in prison He was beaten so brutally that he got tetanus from his wounds and died in the compound.  Much of what we know about the place comes from survivors' memoirs sometimes with a handful of beans thrown in Their bread ration — moldy or stale when it made its way to them — was small and could be withheld by the guards as punishment both the soup and the tea were given to them already frozen When Toncheva takes us on a brief walk to go look at storks as if the island is alive and doesn't want us there I think of the people who had to work days and nights An internal CIA document described the grim situation of starving prisoners "A frequent sight is that of a prisoner eating raw green leaves and roots," it said would result in 10 days in detention in a dungeon for such an offense." The lucky ones got packages from family Many had little choice but to choke down the rotting carcasses of wild cats killed and skinned for their fur by the villagers or pick through horse dung for undigested barley According to a CIA information report from March 13 during one brutal winter 30 prisoners died of cold or starvation perfectly calculated by Satan himself," Liliana Pirinchiva who brought an especially sadistic approach to their work Some would chase packs of prisoners on horseback letting their rifles off "as if we were a flock of sheep," wrote Stefan Botchev he was locked up in a shed alone because the guards didn't want him to infect the cows He recalled seeing a beating so severe that a prisoner's spine was broken turning him into a "reptile crawling on the ground." the chairman of the Bulgarian Youth Agrarian Union who also survived Belene in which the guards would pull back a prisoner's head and strike him in the trachea would draw water colors of the camp from memory — it's virtually the only visual documentation that exists who will remember what happened on that island in the 1950s and will they know that people were sent there without a trial and sentence?" a historian in Toronto who writes about the history and the memory of the camps recalls meeting Horozov at an academic conference; he was trying to give away copies of his drawings of Belene to university students but they avoided him as if he were a pesky street vendor Tsvetana Dzhermanova is the last known survivor of the women's camp We're sitting outside her home in the mountain village of Leskovets and she's talking so fast I wonder how she manages to breathe who also spoke with the speed of a motorboat (My grandfather also took an understandable delight at outliving the Communistie but I won't survive old age," he once told me when I was 25 and had no idea about either.)   "I'm not sure humans are evolved enough to make either anarchism or socialism work the way they should When she first heard about anarchism as a teenager "Anarchists are the people all regimes persecute," her mother had replied She had no designs on power (detesting it) and mostly spent her time reading anarchist literature and working on a community vegetable garden She estimates that 800 anarchists from the town were swept up in a night and sent to the gulags "We sang songs while we worked," Dzhermanova tells me Last spring the sprightly nonagenarian made the three-hour trip to Belene to speak with a group of students about the camps walk through a falling-down building that was constructed in 1959 Plant life is taking over its rotted remnants and old decayed furniture has been abandoned here and there We talk about how nobody talks about the camp Peter tells us that despite having spent almost his entire life roughly 750 feet from Persin he learned about the camp only two weeks earlier when Toncheva hired him as a driver for her tours "To think they only gave them bread and water but she remembers asking her grandmother about the island when she was a teenager and again after reading the memoirs of survivors Don't talk so much about this," her grandmother would say There are rumors of a mass grave near Persin But money for the equipment required to find and dig up the remains eludes this two-person staff who were born in the mid-1950s and grew up in Bulgaria all their friends in Sofia knew about Belene "We all heard the stories," my mother says maintaining official denial was worth murder the celebrated Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov defected to the West Markov described traveling on a boat down the Danube and approaching Belene a youth with a guitar once sang a strange song: Danube On a rainy afternoon in London, a man jabbed the tip of his umbrella into Markov's leg Markov noticed what looked like a small bug bite but didn't think much of it most likely poisoned by the Bulgarian secret service over Zoom to talk about the erasure of the camps in Bulgaria's consciousness the owner of a prominent bookstore dismissed any interest in survivors' memoirs — they were "out of fashion," he had told her And it showed how we're all so prone to the "just world" fallacy a phenomenon where if something is too horribly unjust It's not all that hard to bury inconvenient truths "It turned out that aging men and women with fragmented memories of bygone violence did not make for the faces of change," Topouzova wrote in a recent paper titled "On Silence and History" for the American Historical Association "The interned were rendered nonexistent — their experiences and memories fated to vanish along with the files."  Nations define themselves by their monuments The memorial in downtown Manhattan demands that we never forget the victims of 9/11 American activists have torn Confederate statues from their perches signaling a break with the passive acceptance of the history of slavery.  Vaunted democracies are as likely to try to bury inconvenient truths as former communist states the heroes of Bulgaria's uprising against the Ottoman Empire are eternalized in stone a giant sculpture overlooks Bulgaria's second-largest city that honors "Alyosha," an everyman Soviet soldier who helped "liberate" Bulgaria in the 1940s — even though many Bulgarians see that period as Soviet imperialism much like the Ottoman Empire's 500 years of occupation The victims of Belene and the other camps have no such honor The Belene foundation does the best it can where Korozov's pencil drawings were tacked onto the walls of the decaying structures that had been erected to mask evidence of the gulag There is one modest monument on the island and you'd have no idea what it was if you didn't already know the history The original idea was to build a monument that listed the names of all the known internees something like the Vietnam wall on the Mall in Washington But the survivors and their families who pooled their resources to build it ran out of money (The survivors also hoped to open a museum and to recreate the shacks where they were held the 93-year-old anarchist — and eternal optimist apparently — has hope that younger people will dig up the buried history his ex-wife (or whoever it was who betrayed him to the authorities) was right that he wanted to escape Bulgaria "After 4 years and three months in the Island of Death I became determined to go to my real home: America," he explained in his notebooks he managed to make it into Yugoslavia during a "sabor" — a temporary loosening of borders so family and friends in the two countries could see each other But he got caught and was thrown into a Yugoslavian jail he organized an inmate breakout after bribing the guard dog But he and the other prisoners were caught in the woods and the Yugoslavian authorities gave them up to the Bulgarian authorities in exchange for 10 cows "They weren't even very good cows — scrawny," he wrote he tried to cross Bulgaria's mountainous border into Greece he made it into Austria and then Germany by clinging to the underside of a freight train where he gave his new dog a familiar name: Jeko She's currently working on a book about escapees from the Soviet bloc.  This administration will not be held hostage by anyone - neither by external pressure All parties from the left coalition strongly support the government's efforts to restore normality in the country and put an end to the political chaos," said Deputy Prime Minister Both reactors for the Belene Nuclear Power Plant will not be sold announced Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov at a briefing He stated that he had a conversation with Boyko Borisov and everyone in the management is categorically against selling the reactors for the Belene NPP "I have had discussions with our partners in the joint management council and personally with Boyko Borisov and we have a joint decision on the fate of the two reactors for the Belene NPP This decision is that the reactors will not be sold This decision is supported by all parties in the management and I thank our partners for standing together behind this strategically important choice," said the Chairman of the BSP and Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov at a briefing at the headquarters of the left-wing party "This sale would have been a grave mistake because we would have lost years of hard work billions of levs and the opportunity for a strong energy policy and we will not allow that to happen," Zafirov explained The Belene Nuclear Power Plant was one of the major topics during the formation of the current government as the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) strongly opposed the sale while GERB insisted on it and supported it in parliament "I am certain that their motives are to fight for the Bulgarian national interest," Zafirov briefly explained how GERB changed their opinion "The world is in a state of constant energy insecurity Nuclear energy is the safest and most affordable option," Zafirov emphasized and described the potential sale of the reactors for Belene as a "grave mistake." All parties from the left coalition firmly support the government's efforts to restore normality in the country and put an end to the political debauchery "This administration will not be a hostage to anyone - neither to external pressure nor to internal fear," declared the leader of the Socialist Party.  but direction," said the leader of the socialists Atanas Zafirov during a press briefing at the party headquarters.  we will work with everyone for whom stability and interest are above political considerations The question here is not who will stay and who will support but whether the state will stay on its feet because Bulgaria does not need another institutional crisis calm and clearly regulated governance of the state," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized And he pointed out: "This governance is not perfect but it is a governance that works and bears responsibility and which must remain and continue the path we have taken." When asked whether they would accept support from Delyan Peevski's MRF - NEW BEGINNING Zafirov replied that there are 9 parties in parliament "Tomorrow's vote of no confidence is not only an attack against the government but a targeted attempt to bring back chaos 100 days may be a short time for big words but it's enough to see the direction we are heading," he further commented.  "The process of normalization is being attacked It's clear that the opposition offers only one thing - a collapse With one sole purpose - to stop the restoration of sovereignty This is a blow to the strategic course of Bulgaria There is a clear desire to deviate from our European path in order to return the country to a peripheral position where we have been for a long time," Zafirov said 100 days are enough to see the direction we are heading in We have started to unravel contracts that have been draining public funds for years We have started a real preparation for putting an end to these heavy dependencies and that has met a responsive reaction," added Zafirov the new managers have "opened the drawers where projects decisions and opportunities have been sitting for years buried by inaction or intentionally hidden." Zafirov claims that the opposition is not offering real solutions without an alternative - with the sole purpose of stopping the restoration of statehood," commented the deputy BSP will continue to work for the development of nuclear energy We remind you that Bulgaria and Ukraine are negotiating the sale of reactors from the Belene Nuclear Power Plant from 2023 Bulgaria will put an end to "dependence on Russian nuclear energy" The National Assembly has decided for Bulgaria to sell both reactors to Ukraine at a price not lower than what it paid for them - 1.2 billion dollars but the final decision still has to go through parliament The planned purchase has a floating price of around 600 million euros The state has not yet signed the agreement with one of the reasons being the reconsideration of the price the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada gave the green light for the purchase of the reactors at NPP "Belene" American company "Westinghouse" also plans to build two reactors on Ukrainian soil BSP also commented on the reversal of their vote last week on the hearing of Interior Minister Daniel Mitov on the scandal with the GDFOC The Socialists reiterated their position from last week that they support such a hearing “We want to understand all the facts and circumstances that led to the current situation Here I want to address my colleagues from the opposition It is high time they understood that the four-year political crisis is over,” commented BSP MP Atanas Atanasov He called some of the opposition TikTok or Instagram politicians who want to make a sensation out of everything and urged them to do their job The state of our army and armed forces cannot be subject to political .. че няма да има задължителен час по религия MEU announced that they will perform an inspection MRF - NEW BEGINNING proposes strict requirements and strict control for the use of scooters България и САЩ държат на нещо много важно - технологичната неутралност при производство на електроенергия Битовите потребители остават на регулирана цена Bulgaria is for open dialogue and a stable transatlantic partnership The main topics on the agenda of the meeting will be security and defense but I wouldn't enter a trench with our politicians Chief of the Haskovo Regional Department of the Interior had a "strongly indifferent and quite inadequate behavior" commented the case with Magdalena the expert The aggression of the youth today is more hostile следван от независимия Дан с 1 828 554 гласа Russia does not have the military and economic capacity to engage in a real war against the Old Continent the instilled fear leads to irrational thinking Critical point for Europe was the decision for full and unconditional support .. The hundred days of the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov seem like a real detoxification We have reached a point where parties with single-digit results Television channels have long become brokers of the Distorted Truth не френски пианисти."People from television - the paradise - seem to be .. Rosatom's first deputy director general of corporate development and international business Framatome's senior executive vice president in charge of sales Rosatom said that if it were to become a strategic investor in the project through a competitive process GE would be considered as the partner for an Arabelle based turbine-generator set and turbine hall equipment while Framatome would be considered as the key partner for the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems for the Belene plant The Belene project in northern Bulgaria includes construction of two 1000 MWe units each using the Russian VVER-1000/V-466 design which is a pressurised water reactor with four circulating loops Until the Belene project was suspended in 2012 procurement and construction was Atomstroyexport the technical design of the Belene plant was prepared by the chief designer Atomenergoproject and Areva NP GmbH was a subcontractor for the electrical systems The equipment manufactured and delivered in 2017 for the nuclear island was manufactured by Izhora Plants ZiO-Podolsk and Atommashexport are all subsidiaries of Rosatom the Bulgarian parliament mandated the country's energy minister to resume the search for investors in the project the Bulgarian energy ministry announced it had shortlisted five out of a total of 13 applicants to participate in the Belene construction project Rosatom and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co were selected as potential strategic investors in the project which had both expressed an interest in providing equipment and in arranging financing for the project The Bulgarian government has said it will take a majority stake in the Belene project it has said it will not provide state nor corporate guarantees or offer to buy electricity from the plant under long-term contracts with preferential rates "The signed MoUs underline a continuously high level of trust between our companies," said Komarov "I am sure that international cooperation between nuclear industry leaders will help create the best financial and technical conditions for the implementation of the Belene nuclear power plant." Rosatom noted that it has already successfully collaborated with Framatome and GE on international projects including the Paks-II nuclear power plant in Hungary and the Hanhikivi-1 plant in Finland It said the cooperation with GE is carried out within the framework of the Akkuyu project in Turkey and the El-Dabaa project in Egypt a joint venture between GE and Rosatom subsidiary Atomenergomash is a supplier of equipment for the turbine island of each plant The reactors intended for Bulgaria's unrealised second nuclear power plant project - Belene - will not be sold This was announced to journalists by Deputy Prime Minister and BSP leader Atanas Zafirov He said that he had discussed the fate of the two reactors with partners in the Council for Joint Governance and with GERB leader Boyko Borissov "We have decided that the two reactors at the Belene NPP will not be sold The development of nuclear energy is the right way forward for the country and its people Electricity prices are rising around the world the world is facing continued energy insecurity we have the experts - everything is in our hands," Zafirov said stressing that the reactors are a key asset for Bulgaria and a crucial part of its energy independence A parliamentary decision on the matter is now awaited Bulgaria began negotiations to sell the two Russian-built reactors from the Belene project to Ukraine Ukraine's Energoatom had intended to use them to complete its Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant The Bulgarian prime minister said that instead of Belene the authorities will consider the possibility of building new reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant Photo: Gogo89873 / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode , 0 Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and US-based NuScale signed a memorandum of understanding in November on new nuclear facilities with SMR technology with the intention to install the nuclear modules within the existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant near the town of the same name on the Danube in northwest Bulgaria New Prime Minister Kiril Petkov pointed to the Belene nuclear plant project as an example of unreasonable spending and corruption and stated that Bulgaria would not continue it He said that it makes much more sense to develop new blocks in Kozloduy instead Prime Minister Petkov pointed to the Belene project as an example of unreasonable spending and corruption Petkov said the grid connections with neighboring Greece and Serbia” should be optimized so that they may buy electricity from Kozloduy Russia will not build a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria The Belene site is located 7.5 kilometers from the border with Romania The National Electricity Company of Bulgaria (NEC) and Rosatom signed an agreement in 2006 on its construction The project involved two units with a total capacity of more than 2 GW Bulgaria has invested about EUR 1.5 billion in the project Rosatom’s Atomstroyexport had already manufactured the first set of equipment for the nuclear power plants NEC fully repaid its EUR 601.6 million debt to Rosatom Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov tried in May 2018 to restart the Belene project A strategic investor was supposed to be selected through a competitive procedure French Framatome SAS and General Electric Steam Power signed memorandums of understanding on a joint bid for the Belene project the tender was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic Bulgaria decided to abandon the construction of the Belene plant and use the equipment supplied by Rosatom to build a new reactor at Kozloduy the government in Sofia then again decided to abandon the construction of the Belene plant and use the equipment supplied by Rosatom to build a new reactor at the existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant The idea with battery projects is to divert electricity exports toward Bulgarian businesses The government said it would negotiate with the United States on nuclear power technology for Kozloduy but also projects for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and CO2 capture systems Prime Minister Petkov said the project for the construction of a steam and gas power plant in the Maritsa East (Maritsa Iztok) coal complex, which has been removed from the draft National Recovery and Resilience Plan Bulgaria is already very much dependent on Russia in the energy sector he said and added the plan needs to be focused on diversification Bulgaria is already too dependent on Russia in the energy sector Six zones have been selected for research and pilot projects for geothermal energy within the recovery and resilience plan Tests will be performed at a depth of 2,000-3,000 meters They estimated costs for geothermal energy projects at EUR 3 million per MW Negotiations with the United States about Kozloduy will be not only on new nuclear facilities but also on LNG projects and CO2 storage systems It is the initial plan of the government for changes in the recovery plan The revised version of the country`s recovery plan has been sent to Brussels for consideration and is awaiting a response from the European Commission The government revealed it would not close coal facilities before there are enough energy storage systems in place, as 3e-news.net reports. Bulgaria has three scenarios for a coal phaseout in play: by 2035 After agreements on projects in Romanian nuclear power plant Cernavodă NuScale Energy started its third partnership for small nuclear reactors in Europe in Poland The US firm signed a deal with copper and silver producer KGHM Polska Miedź to start the preparations for deploying a VOYGR SMR in Poland as early as 2029 KGHM is planning to deploy four 77 MW light water reactors Other Polish companies are also exploring SMR technology Chemicals giant Synthos signed a letter of intent with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and BWXT Canada to cooperate in deploying BWRX-300 SMRs in Poland with the intention to set up at least 10 of them by early 2030s Westinghouse recently signed agreements with 10 Polish companies on cooperation and supply of nuclear technology At the moment, around 70% of domestic electricity production is from coal, which is the highest level in the European Union. Poland still didn`t set a coal phaseout deadline. More news from Видео The prisons in Pleven and Belene will become the first two pilot green prisons in Bulgaria “In partnership with our colleagues from Norway and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism we will now make a big leap into the future because these two prisons will chart the future of the entire prison system in Bulgaria,” Stefanov emphasized He pointed out that a green prison is in line with the natural environment and does not leave a large carbon footprint and noted that both prisons are located in natural parks The main concept for the development of a green prison in Pleven envisages a photovoltaic installation that will supply electricity to the buildings and workshops its own water source that will also supply hot water as well as repair and restoration of the work stations prisoners will acquire new knowledge and skills that they will be able to use after their release and will be competitive on the labor market “All this also works towards the correction of those deprived of their liberty and their rehabilitation” adding that another valuable thing is the easing of the financial burden for the taxpayer:  “(…) If the project is implemented the prison becomes free for the Bulgarian taxpayer With the efforts invested in the production a profit will even be made in the State budget," he concluded He pointed out that all buildings of the Pleven prison already are energy efficient and all electrical appliances He commented on the cooperation with the regional and municipal administrations the I am Kaylaka foundation and the Regional Military History Museum which work together to maintain the natural park.  The initiative is part of a project to improve the sustainability of the penitentiary system in Bulgaria financed under the Justice Programme of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 President Rossen Plevneliev will participate today in the 27th National Ceremony for paying homage to the victims of totalitarian regimes in the 20th century at Persin island (near the town of Belene) The ceremony will be held under the motto "The Song of Freedom" The "Belene Island" Foundation is one of the organizers of the annual national ceremony The President of the Foundation Mikhail Marinov said: "The Belene labour camp was the largest camp for persons considered politically dangerous for the communist government There thousands of our compatriots were crushed physically and mentally That is why the topic of these camps should not be forgotten." the participants will made the symbolic first sod for the construction of a Memorial Park on Persin island and a national donation campaign will be declared Part of the equipment for the Second Nuclear Plant is stored at the site The management of the Kozloduy NPP has announced a public order for the transportation of a block transformer type TC-630000/400-82 U1 from the site of the Belene NPP project to that of the operating nuclear power plant The aim is to provide a reserve of transformers 9(10)GC01,02 on 5(6)EB it is known from an announcement in the Public Procurement Agency (AOP) The estimated value (without VAT) of the public order is BGN 1,500,000 Depending on the conditions for the execution of the activities under the order the transport can be carried out in two ways The first is to transport the transformer by land only the transport will be organized by the road control authorities who will escort it along a route agreed with them the transportation of the transformer will be mainly by water it will be loaded onto a vessel and transported along the Danube River from the Belene NPP site to Kozloduy NPP A small part of the route will be the transportation of the transformer to the port of the NPP "Belene" and from the port of the NPP "Kozloduy" to the destination - the site of the administrative building EP-2 Intra-departmental roads will be used for this transport scheme Its implementation will be directly dependent on the level of the Danube River The price specified in the contract cannot be determined only with a total value or unit prices as laid down in the standardized form of the AOP in the section "Price The standardized form of the AOP does not include clauses such as: price for preparing cargo for transport coordination with the road control authorities of the transport scheme and their commitment to escort the cargo it is specified in the written reasons to the public order The deadline for submitting offers or applications for participation is August 12 and the preliminary selection of participants will take place on August 14 according to the information on the public procurement BTA reminds that on May 22 this year the Council of Ministers decided to sell the National Electric Company to the Kozloduy NPP its long-term asset which is located on the site of the Belene NPP The facility is a power block transformer that will serve to implement the programs for the extension of the period of operation of the 5th and 6th units of the Kozloduy NPP The sale will be carried out through direct negotiation between the two companies at an initial sale price determined by an independent appraiser and according to the procedure regulated in the Regulations for the implementation of the Law on Public Enterprises the security of the equipment of the Kozloduy NPP will be guaranteed as well as the optimization of the time for carrying out repair activities The project was implemented with the financial support of the Agency for People with Disabilities Contract 6 - StN / 10/06/21 анд Contract № 2 - StN / 23.05.2023 г 3E-news.net by Dir.bg © 2025 All rights reserved Bulgaria unexpectedly refused to sell Ukraine the Russian nuclear reactors for the "Belene" NPP What is behind this decision and is it possible that the Ukrainian "Khmelnytskyi" NPP will be completed at all The two Russian-made nuclear reactors were to be used for the completion of units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (Khmelnytskyi) Ukraine had to purchase them from Bulgaria argued with the need for nuclear energy in Bulgaria to develop as well as the global increase in electricity prices "Bulgaria has both the infrastructure and expertise to develop this sector with national forces and selling the reactors would be a serious mistake," Zafirov pointed out He specified that this was a collective decision of the ruling coalition which has yet to be finally approved by the country's parliament That is probably why the Ukrainian side has not yet received the official position of the Bulgarian government on this issue The Ministry of Energy in Kiev confirmed to DW that "Ukraine is interested in purchasing equipment for the completion of the two power units of the Khmelnytskyi NPP" Kiev wants to complete the Khmelnytskyi NPP in order to compensate for the loss of power after the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP by the Russians The Ukrainian Energy Ministry believes that purchasing reactors from Bulgaria "will be many times cheaper and faster than building a new nuclear power plant from scratch" since the units of "Khmelnytskyi" are designed for VVER-1000 reactors Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also repeatedly supported the completion of the Khmelnytskyi NPP and the purchase of power units from Bulgaria Ukraine and Bulgaria have been negotiating since 2023 for the purchase of two VVER-1000 reactors which Rosatom delivered for the Bulgarian Belene NPP the Bulgarian parliament gave permission for the sale of the reactors setting a deadline for this - until March 13 no official documents were signed until its expiration Ukrainian nuclear energy expert Olga Kosharnaya suggests that the sale did not take place due to the change of power in Bulgaria after the elections in October 2024 the Bulgarian opposition was against the decision of the previous Bulgarian government to sell these reactors It is significant that when the delegation of "Energoatom" was in Bulgaria in May 2024 to inspect the condition of the equipment The chairman of the energy committee in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) Andriy Gerus is of a similar opinion "The current ruling coalition also includes socialists I think their position has influenced the situation Deputy Prime Minister Zafirov is also a socialist" the first deputy chairman of the energy committee believes that by refusing to sell the reactors "I have the feeling that they have realized that this is a normal commodity And that its price is no longer 600 million dollars but in general it's like this everywhere in the world - everyone bargains," he added GERB leader Boyko Borisov said that the country should try to use the two reactors for a project related to the construction of data centers together with the US and Great Britain "I want us to do something with the British If not - we will sell them," BTA quoted him as saying Borisov explained that "representatives of three large international funds" which have a strong interest in the construction of data processing centers have contacted Bulgaria and asked it to wait with the decision to sell the reactors to Ukraine - not before it has talked about it with US President Donald Trump delegations from the United States have already arrived in Bulgaria to see the reactors and their supposed perfect condition was evidenced by the interest of Ukraine Bulgarian reactors - the only option for completing “Khmelnytsky“ which according to the state company “Energoatom” are 80 and 25 percent complete are designed for the same type of reactors that Bulgaria has an energy expert and director of the Center for Energy Research “Since we will not buy them from Russia There is no other possible supplier of such reactors So we will either have to start building from scratch or completely change the design And that will be much more expensive,” he explains the prices for building a single power unit from scratch range from $7 billion to $11 billion it is not very clear how much it would cost to complete the plant with the two Bulgarian power units since there is no updated feasibility study determined the cost of construction at over 76 billion Ukrainian hryvnias Now this amount is clearly different - at least 200 billion hryvnias," she notes The Verkhovna Rada's Anti-Corruption Commission has criticized the fact that an analysis of the possibility of using other types of reactors has not been conducted the purchase of these reactors has been repeatedly criticized by experts since Bulgaria does not have all the components for them Is it worth completing the Khmelnytskyi NPP Bulgaria's decision not to sell the reactors is positive for Ukraine "I was hoping for this when I read about the political battles in Bulgaria" adding that now is not the time to build new nuclear power plants after all thermal power plants were bombed The solution that Kosharnaya proposes is "first of all to develop capacities for the production and storage of electricity from natural gas which would be turned on only during peak consumption consider building a fifth and sixth reactor the American company “Westinghouse“: “This will be better than using Bulgarian reactors without the general contractor – the Russian reactor manufacturer Rosatom” would be to build small reactors instead of large power units a license was issued in Canada to build a small reactor the commissioning of which is planned for 2029 they take into account the latest achievements of science and technology small reactors are cheaper and more maneuverable We have time to see how this reactor will work in Canada,” the Ukrainian nuclear energy expert also tells DW More news from World This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page leader of the pro-Russian far-right party ‘Vazrazhdane’ (Revival) started his first term as an MP by threatening to deport all those who oppose the Belene nuclear power plant to the town’s communist-era forced labour camp The Belene Nuclear Power Plant is an unfinished project that dates back to the 1980s The Parliament Wednesday adopted a decision to extend by 180 days the negotiations with Ukraine on the sale of equipment Bulgaria has purchased for the Belene nuclear power plant project before deciding to abandon it The resolution amending the decision to task the Minister of Energy to conduct negotiations with the Minister of Energy of Ukraine was proposed by Delyan Dobrev from GERB-UDF.  the Minister of Energy must take a decision on the sale of the long production cycle equipment owned by the National Electricity Company and submit a report to the National Assembly The draft decision was supported by 107 MPs from the groups of GERB-UDF Movement for Rights and Freedoms and five independent MPs The "against" votes included 65 MPs from Vazrazhdane the Bulgarian Socialist Party and 14 independent MPs 13 MPs of There Is Such a People abstained Rosatom first deputy head Kirill Komarov said the agreements underline a “high level of trust” between the three companies and international cooperation would help create “the best financial and technical conditions” for the realisation of the Belene project In December 2019, Bulgaria invited five companies to submit binding offers in the tender to choose an investor for Belene The companies were China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) a subsidiary of state nuclear corporation Rosatom and KHNP were invited to bid as investors in the project while Framatome and GE were offered the opportunity to supply equipment for the project Bulgaria plans to choose investors to build and operate two Russian-made VVER-1000 pressurised water reactor units at the site on the Danube River which has two commercial nuclear plants at the Kozloduy nuclear station ordered the two Russian reactor units for Belene in 2008 but the project was cancelled in 2012 because of financial and political considerations In June 2018, the government formally revived the project following a vote in parliament A 2016 arbitration settlement awarded Bulgaria most of the nuclear equipment already produced by Russia for Belene under the 2008 agreement The page you're looking for does not exist The Belene Nuclear Power Plant project is located around 7.5km from the border of Romania and near the Danube River NEK EAD and RWE Power entered into the joint venture agreement for building the plant in December 2008 ownership and operation of the power plant NEK EAD holds a 51% stake in the joint venture while RWE holds the remaining stake RWE which was supposed to provide €2bn in exchange for a 49% stake pulled out of the project Construction was frozen in 2010 due to uncertain return on investment and lack of funding The Bulgarian Government announced plans to put construction acitivites on hold Atomstroyexport offered €4bn and €2bn in spring 2009 and spring 2010 respectively but the offers were rejected by the governments of Stanishev and Borisov It was also announced that construction will not continue unless it is funded by an investor from Western Europe to reduce Bulgaria’s dependence on Russia The project was finally abandoned in March 2012 after it failed to attract any investors The estimated €10bn cost of the project was too high to be funded by Bulgaria alone is planned to be transferred and installed at Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant A new natural gas-based thermopower plant is expected to be developed at the site of the Balene plant WorleyParsons was the owner’s engineer for the project The scope of work of Worley Parsons included the development of EPC vendor solicitation and evaluation criteria vendors’ tender document assessment and development of draft contract for the EPC services evaluation and verification of vendor designs and technical documentation The plant consisted of two modern units of VVER type reactors Unit 1 of the Belene plant was expected to be commercial in 2014 and unit 2 in 2015 The Russian state-run civilian nuclear power corporation Rosatam was also expected to purchase a stake in the project NEK EAD signed a contract with BNP Paribas to launch the process for arrangement and structure of financing required for the Belene nuclear power project in June 2008 the cost was estimated to be approximately Є4bn the cost was revised upwards to about Є10bn The technical project is yet to be reviewed and approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority Old structures that cannot be integrated into the new plant were removed It was estimated that 150,922m³ of soil was required to be excavated and 8,780t of metal structures and 150,298m³ of concrete structures (including those of RCC) to be dismantled by fragmentation Diamond and hydraulic tools were employed during the process 23,755m³ of excavations were completed and 5,122t of metal had been dismantled The contract for building each of the 1,000MW reactors and delivering the essential equipment for the power plant was awarded to AtomstroyExport construction and commissioning of units 1 and 2 of the plant was signed between NEK EAD and Atomstroyexport in January 2008 The primary subcontractors of AtomstroyExport included a consortium composed of AREVA NP The contract is valued at approximately Є3,997.26m The government of the Republic of Bulgaria decided to restart the Belene project in 2002 Based on an environmental impact assessment (EIA) prepared by NEK EAD the approval for construction of a 2,000MW nuclear facility over the project site was given in 2004 The consent for the plant construction was given by CoM in 2005 verified under the Act on the safe use of nuclear energy NEK EAD’s board decided to award the contract for design procurement and commissioning of the Belene nuclear units 1 and 2 in May 2005 The tender was submitted by AtomstroyExport Russia and the Consortium Skoda Alliance The Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency issued permits for design of the two units in May–June 2007 equipment available and needed for commissioning and operations of the unit along with handling and usage and monitoring of nuclear fuel were defined under the plant’s design catering to its compliance to all European requirements in 2007 AES has begun construction of the company’s first power plant in Bulgaria The AES 92 reactor variant planned to be installed at the Belene nuclear power plant was a new-generation water-water energetic reactor ( VVER or WWER) licensed by authorities The plant had a pressurised water reactor design with four first-stage coolant circulation loops per reactor The AES 92 reactor facility has an estimated life of 60 years The net efficiency of the plant is 35% and its availability is 90% The AES-92 design was chosen for the reactor because of its unique combination of active and passive safety and security systems The Minister of Energy and Energy Resources of the Republic of Bulgaria was assigned to perform the environmental assessment of the Belene nuclear power plant in 2002 NEK EAD produced an EIA report along with a feasibility study for the plant construction The EIA report did not include the complete information on seismic conditions A number of environmental organisations expressed opposition and concerns in relation to the plant The completion of the Belene nuclear power plant may have supported Bulgaria in complying with the Kyoto Protocol and strict Election Commission release norms View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network